Private-sector hiring this year remained strong as employers reported adding more workers to their payrolls in March than expected, according to a report released Wednesday.

Private payrolls across the nation rose by 263,000 last month, said payroll processor Automatic Data ProcessingInc. and forecasting firm Moody’s Analytics. This was much better than a gain of 180,000 expected by economists polled by The Wall Street Journal. In February, ADP’s report showed the private-sector added 298,000 jobs. The report is based on data collected from ADP clients in addition to lagged behind government figures.

“The gains are broad based but most notable in the goods producing side of the economy including construction, manufacturing and mining,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Analytics.

Most of the job gains came from small businesses, defined by ADP as companies with 49 or fewer employees. These firms added 118,000 jobs. Midsize firms with 50 to 499 employees added 100,000 workers, while large businesses added 45,000.

“Consumer dependent industries including health care, leisure and hospitality, and trade had strong growth during the month,” said Ahu Yildirmaz, vice president and co-head of the ADP Research Institute.